BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s former leader Alvaro Uribe on Sunday rejected an accusation by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that Uribe was plotting to kill him as the desperate ploy of a dictator trying to hide his illegitimacy.

In the latest in a string of explosive accusations from Hugo Chavez’s recently-elected successor, Maduro said on Friday he had evidence that Uribe was conspiring with the Venezuelan opposition to kill him.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a polarizing bill to allow same-sex marriage in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation, as hundreds of people took to the streets to demonstrate for and against the measure.

The bill was rejected by 51 out of 102 lawmakers in the Senate – with 17 in favor. The negative vote was widely expected, given that lawmakers from the ruling coalition had made an alliance to oppose the initiative.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a polarizing bill to allow same-sex marriage in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation, as hundreds of people took to the streets to demonstrate for and against the measure.

The bill was rejected by 51 out of 102 lawmakers in the Senate – with 17 in favor. The negative vote was widely expected, given that lawmakers from the ruling coalition had made an alliance to oppose the initiative.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Monday said he is no longer considering running for a shorter term of two years in 2014 and told lawmakers it was too early to consider an extension of presidential terms to six years.

Santos on Friday signaled he may seek re-election, but only if he can stay in office for two more years, half the usual term. He also said that from 2016 onwards, the presidential term should be extended to six years and that a president’s right to stand for re-election should be scrapped.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday signaled he may run for re-election in 2014, but only if he can stay in office for two more years, half the usual term, and change the rules for future heads of state.

Santos has refused to comment on his plans until the second half of 2013, but analysts say the tone of his appearances in recent months have smacked of a man already on the campaign trail.

BOGOTA, April 17 (Reuters) – Colombia’s central bank chief
said on Wednesday there are “objective reasons” why the
country’s peso currency should ease against the U.S.
dollar, while the government said it is considering more
measures to weaken the peso.

The firmer peso is cutting into the revenues of exporters
and causing problems for manufacturers who struggle to compete
with cheaper imports.

BOGOTA, April 15 (Reuters) – Colombia’s government announced
a stimulus package on Monday designed to revitalize the economy
and encourage pension funds to invest more money abroad, a step
aimed at putting a break on the rise of the national currency.

Colombia’s economic growth slowed to 4 percent in 2012 from
6.6 percent a year earlier. The central bank expects the economy
to maintain the same pace of growth this year as in 2012.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s top prosecutor on Friday filed a legal challenge to a law that paved the way for ongoing peace talks, a move that could undermine government efforts to end five decades of war.

President Juan Manuel Santos drew up a legal framework last year that led to peace negotiations with Latin America’s biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The bloody conflict has killed tens of thousands and caused damage to the Andean nation’s economy.

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s socialist president Rafael Correa presented a bill on Monday asking lawmakers to annul an investment protection treaty with the United States, which would prevent U.S. companies from filing for arbitration against the Andean country.

Correa, who won a sweeping re-election victory in mid-February, said over the weekend that the OPEC-member country could go bankrupt because arbitration tribunals always rule that Ecuador should pay damages to foreign investors when there is a dispute.

About Eduardo

"Eduardo has been reporting from Ecuador since November 2011. He has written about the Andean country's oil industry, tensions between the government of President Rafael Correa and the media, and efforts by Ecuadorean plaintiffs to enforce an $18 billion ruling against U.S. oil company Chevron for polluting the Amazon. He was previously posted in Argentina where he covered the country's grains industry and in Bolivia where he wrote about President Evo Morales' efforts to give the majority Indian population more political power. Eduardo is a Spaniard who has also lived and reported in Guatemala and Britain."